The Insufficient Construction Of Canadian Identity In The Newest History Textbooks For The Secondary Schools In Quebec

History education is most often used by the authority to shape a national identity by introducing a particular narrative of the past to younger generations. To realize this goal, one of the most influential tools is the history textbook. Through the selection of important events and people, textbooks establish a line of logic that makes the present social order justified and foster a desired future. The official view of national identity it provides legitimizes the status quo, strengthening political solidarity and functioning as a bond for social mobilization. Therefore there is no wonder that public authorities are usually more concerned with the content of history and social studies textbooks than that of the other subjects.In Canada, eight provinces(ten in total) are overwhelmingly(greater than90%) English-speaking and Quebec is the only province with a predominantly(more than80%) French-speaking population. Due to its complicated history and, in particular, the anxiety about assimilation by anglophone culture, Quebec has been adopting a "survival" and "suffering" history narrative in textbooks to preserve the distinctive identity and unique culture of Quebec. This phenomenon becomes possible in that the1867Canadian constitution endows Canadian provinces and territories with exclusive jurisdiction over education, which means, with respect to the history teaching, each province and territory can have a different approach as to the inclusion of Canadian history in the textbooks.Since the mid-1990s, Quebecers aged18-24have shown the weakest attachment to a shared Canadian identity based on the analysis of the polls. The reason lies in the fact that history education in the middle school(age12-17) is the most fundamental phase for the formation of youths’ basic concept and sense of history and young people aged18-24are most susceptible to the history education of this period. More importantly, a majority of researches conducted before believe that Quebec history textbooks, as the most official and persuasive agent in the history education, have consciously adopted a pessimistic and melancholy narrative concerning the provincial history, which seriously blocks a strong attachment to the collective Canadian identity. However, it is worth noticing that a reform on the history program kicked off in2006and most history textbooks applied in the Quebec secondary schools were also updated in2007, making the old style of narrative almost nowhere to be seen. But according to the newest polls in recent years, the weak attachment to a shared Canadian identity among Quebec youths actually shows no improvement. So the question is:Since the old style of narrative has been replaced since2007, does it imply that some new problems arise in the textbooks which hinders the construction of a common Canadian identity?This thesis is mainly dedicated to analyzing the narratives of several national symbols which best represent the Canadian identity in Quebec’s newest secondary school history textbooks. It is based on the method of critical discourse analysis founded by Ruth Wodak, a method that focuses on the narratives of nationalism, racism and the construction of national identity. The conclusion points out that, even though the "suffering" narrative has gradually disappeared from the classroom due to the reform of the education programs, a serious lack of positive narratives regarding distinctive Canadian symbols in the new textbooks still poses the main obstacle that stands in the way of establishing a strong sense of national identity among the Quebec young men.